Posted
by
timothyon Friday June 13, 2014 @10:05PM
from the clearing-the-table dept.

Dave Knott (2917251) writes Montreal-based gaming company Amaya Gaming Group Inc. has agreed to purchase privately held Oldford Group, the owner of online poker websites PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, for $4.9 billion. The deal marks the end of a remarkable story that began when Isai Scheinberg, an Israeli-Canadian former IBM computer programmer, founded PYR Software in Toronto and started building PokerStars, which eventually became the largest online poker site in the world. But in 2011, federal prosecutors in Manhattan launched a massive crackdown against online poker in the U.S., indicting Scheinbeg, suing PokerStars and shutting down the U.S. operations of the company for operating an illegal gambling business. In 2012, PokerStars struck a $731 million settlement with federal prosecutors that also saw the company acquire the assets of Full Tilt Poker. However, reentering the vital U.S. market has proved difficult, and in the end, it started to make sense for the Scheinbergs to sell. The Scheinbergs will not remain with PokerStars in any capacity after the current deal closes. In a statement announcing the deal, Amaya said it believes the "transaction will expedite the entry of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker into regulated markets in which Amaya already holds a footprint, particularly the U.S.A."

If the Oldford Group is not permitted to operate the sites in the US market, what makes Amaya so confident that it could operate the same sites in the same US market that has barred both of the gaming websites ?

B. If Uncle Sam can sue Oldford Group and order that privately held company to fork over $700 million, what makes Amaya so sure that Uncle Sam won't do the same to it ?

Amaya is already licensed to operate in NJ and Nevada (and possibly other states).

There's a ban on porn? No one told me. And as gambling goes, you can debate all day if it should be regulated or not, but please don't turn a lack of opportunities to take money from suckers into free speech issue.

It's a tricky issue. Unregulated gambling leads to a lot of (desperate) people getting ripped off by corrupt institutions. Especially online, how hard would it be to know the dealer/house was honest? I'm not for censorship but these kinds of things aren't so clean cut.

It is never gambling when the odds are biased in one sides favour, then it is fraud and losing. Quite simply gambling laws need to change, equal odds should be enforced and both sides of the gamble should be forced to 'GAMBLE'. It would be truly humorous to see all those gambling houses being forced to actually gamble, here's betting the majority of those fraudsters would shut down long before they would be willing to actually 'GAMBLE' with their money.

Of course this is likely a share transaction, specifically designed to inflate share prices in order to allow major share holders to dump shares based upon insider bad news. That bad news likely linked to upcoming legislation. Not that it will be say 'Fair Gambling' laws that actually require that both sides share they same gamble when it comes to winning or losing or at least be forced to include substantial warnings that the odds are tilted in the favour and that the punters on average will 'LOSE' and not gamble their money.

I've got no problem with gambling where the odds are equal, where they are one sided, people should be going to jail for fraud.

Except none of that applies to poker. It's not gambling against the house with the odds in their favor.

They take a rake of the pot, essentially you're paying for the privilege of using their tables (or software). Like renting a bowling lane or a pool table. Your odds are exactly the same as all of the other players, in the long term the only difference is differences of skill. This is all assuming no cheating or collusion going on of course, and says nothing of the legality of playing poker for money.

that is true in person - online you have no idea what you are really playing against. there are many documented cases of online sites allowing players to see all the cards on the table. the documentary I saw showed a 100% proper call on bluff rate over a period of many months.

think about it. you are at a 8 person table. 7 of the players are computers and know your cards. think that make the odds of you winning 'exactly the same'?

Firstly, there's licensing and regulations. Some of the regulators (ARJEL for instance) demand that every action go through their servers and is retained for possible fraud investigation. Incidents of bots on your site, can cause you to lose your license.

Secondly, the large operators do not want to kill the goose that lays golden eggs [forbes.com] and are aggressively fighting bots, colluders and other fraudsters. And yes, they can be detected by multiple methods that I am not at liberty to discuss.

It is fraud when they claim in the advertising that you will win. Failure to disclose the truth is also fraud. So your claim is absolutely nonsense and also fraudulent. My how you buggers whine when it comes to the threat of equal odds, don't like to gamble at all do you, HA HA. Now that is exactly why the laws need to change, want to control gambling and reduce its impact force equal odds, feel the burn, equal odds oh my shock horror, don't like gambling at all do you.

Unfortunately (if you're a poker player), it's not an issue the general public cares much about, so not much has happened.

Personally, I think it's stupid that I can go blow $20 on a movie and popcorn, or $more drinking in the bar for a night, but if I want to put $50 on a poker site and play it for months, well, that's just gotta be stopped!

We have received your complaint and have made a note to mention it at the Biannual Intrabureaucratic Government Legislative Institutional Engagement. Your concerns are our concerns. Let's discuss this further.

The "Black Friday" that destroyed the US market for online poker was not about legality of online poker, it was about an interpretation of the UIEGA by a US DA in New York. Because of the way the sites handled payment processing they were indicted. The Justice Department later stated that the Wire Act doesn't apply to online poker and that implementation of online poker is up to the states.

The UIEGA was a bill attached to a "must pass" ports bill. It was vaguely written (perhaps by design) and

The most common argument I read about this and related topics is "let them fail", which does appear to be a good idea on the surface – they'll learn a lesson and be able to move on. The problem is that, at least in this case, the result of allowing them to learn for themselves is financial ruin, and then you are obligated to help them recover through various government-funded programs (as allowing them to starve / etc. would be morally dubious to say the least).

With all due respect, I don't think you've known very many gambling addicts. Gambling can be a very real addiction - very similar to alcohol or other chemical dependencies. It's not simply a matter of financial irresponsibility or needing to "learn a lesson". Financial ruin is no more or less likely to help a problem gambler than a DUI conviction or loss of a job will help an alcoholic. Sure, it *might* provide that moment of clarity needed to realize they need help . . . or it may send them deeper into

Meanwhile the government of the united states runs the largest Gambling rackets in the world via lotteries and scratch offs. I don't gable, I think it't stupid. But the fucking government shouldn't be allowed to tell me when I can and when I cannot decide to be stupid. They're not qualified to make that distinction.

Disclaimer: I don't recommend Poker for everyone. If you don't treat Poker just right, it can destroy your life even in ways unrelated to your finances. Poker has so many dangers that I can't put it in words. If you start on freerolls and don't put up much of your own money by playing at the smallest stakes then you can work your way up. Just never get a big head on yourself that you're better than you are and start using a lot of money to supplement your bankroll or go out to borrow money to play, etc.

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In addition to their 4.9 billion dollars purchase of online poker websites PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker, Amaya recently acquired Cryptologic, a pioneer within online casino, Ongame, a leader within online poker, and Cadillac Jack, a successful slot machine manufacturer. By acquiring so many companies, Amaya covers all aspects of the gambling industry while capitalizing on the rapid convergence of technology. With 54 jurisdictional licenses in the US and 90 licenses worldwide, 200 land based customers in